On Tuesday, September 25, 2012 (6:00 pm in room 400 of the Richardson Library; a reception will precede at 5:30 pm), Paul Grant-Costa, Executive Editor of the Yale Indian Papers Project, and Assistant Executive Editor Tobias Glaza will present:

“Access and Collaboration: The Challenges of Editing Native American Documents.”

New England Native peoples have survived for well over four hundred years, and so have documents relating to their history and culture. Much of that record has remained unpublished and difficult to access. The Yale Indian Papers Project, together with its partners, have developed the virtual archive that is the New England Indian Papers Series Database, a robust database and web interface that allows researchers greater access to these materials through facsimile images and two levels of transcription combined with scholarly commentary. Despite an overwhelmingly positive response from both the native and non-native research community, a project of this nature is not without its challenges, including logistical and technical issues, conservation and preservations concerns, and forging and maintaining relationships with Tribes and contributing institutions. The very process of editing Native American primary source materials, in itself, can present a number of dilemmas, such as giving voice to a Native frame of reference, understanding Native sensibilities towards particular documentary items, and incorporating Native ideas of history into textual annotations. These challenges, among others, are explored in this presentation by Paul Grant-Costa and Tobias Glaza.

Paul Grant-Costa, Executive Editor of the Yale Indian Papers Project:
Dr. Paul Grant-Costa is the Executive Editor of the Yale Indian Papers Project, a scholarly editing endeavor focused on New England Native American primary source materials. His expertise is in New England Native peoples and their communities, and in the Native Atlantic World. Having spent nearly 35 years in conducting historical research, Dr. Grant-Costa has served as the Senior Researcher at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center and partner in Greymatter, a historical research consultancy. As a lead historical researcher on a number of federal recognition projects, he has worked with tribal councils, tribal historians, lawyers, and anthropologists across New England. He began his professional career as a field archaeologist for the Public Archaeology Survey Team, excavating historic and prehistoric sites in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island.

Tobias Glaza, Assistant Executive Editor of the Yale Indian Papers Project:
Tobias Glaza is the assistant executive editor of the Yale Indian Papers Project. With over 15 years of experience in Native American historical research, Mr. Glaza has worked with Indian communities on a variety of natural resource, land use, museum and history projects both in New England and the Upper Midwest. A former senior researcher at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum and Research Center and land management coordinator for the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation, he holds a M.A in ethnobotany from Connecticut College.